Daily Inspiration

Jesus said to his disciples: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man; they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage up to the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; on the day when Lot left Sodom, fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all. So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, someone who is on the housetop and whose belongings are in the house must not go down to get them, and likewise one in the field must not return to what was left behind. Remember the wife of Lot. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it. I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed; one will be taken, the other left. And there will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken, the other left.” They said to him in reply, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the body is, there also the vultures will gather.” -Luke 17:26-37
 
New Testament Scripture runs parallel to the Old, and Christ fulfills Old Testament prophecies in the same pattern of repetition read throughout Scripture. Christ did not come to change what was written but to fulfill it.  
 
This passage is often used to “prove” the notion of a coming rapture. When we examine Jesus' words here, they parallel the older Scripture, but the idea of rapture contradicts that pattern.
 
Jesus said, In the days of Noah, the wicked were taken while the righteous remained. In the days of Lot, the wicked were taken while the righteous remained. So He says it will be when He comes again; one will be taken, and the other will remain. 
 
Those who give their body and soul to this world have already been taken, and the vultures are gathering. Those who give their whole being to Christ remain safe with Him. Christ fulfills in parallel what was foretold in ages past. Give thanks to God, who has given you this day to prepare your heart and mind for the King’s return. 
 
Saint Albert the Great, pray for us.
 
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Jesus, I trust in you.